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Cases of child-sex grooming revealed by The Times were “the tip of the
iceberg”, a minister said yesterday, as he warned that thousands of children
across England were being used for sex by adults.

Tim Loughton, the Children’s Minister, said that child sexual exploitation had
flourished “under the radar for many years” in cities, towns and rural areas
throughout the country.

Giving evidence to a Commons inquiry, he said that the recent trial of a
child-sex network from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, had focused public
attention on “sickening levels of abuse”. He warned that “we haven’t seen
the half of it